None.
This invention relates generally to roadway maintenance equipment, and particularly concerns an improved roller assembly which may be utilized advantageously in connection with the patching of roadway surfaces with asphalt materials, and which also may be readily attached to a hydraulically-powered, three-attach point standard municipal snowplow lift mounted on a conventional roadway maintenance truck.
A wide range of maintenance equipment is known to be available in the United States for use in connection with the maintenance of roadway surfaces using various asphaltic patching materials. U.S. Pat. No. 2,386,025 issued to Wills, for instance, discloses a hydraulically-powered truck-mounting to which either a castor-supported snowplow or a conventional roadway roller may be attached. The Wills equipment, however, does not provide for pivotal mounting to accommodate roadway transverse unevenness. U.S. Pat. No. 2,962,950 issued to Martin also discloses a truck and roller unit combination but without such transverse pivoting.
See also U.S. Pat. No. 4,269,535 granted to Schultz which discloses compactor equipment that is tractor-mounted rather than truck-mounted.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,579,479 granted to Bryant teaches equipment that has both a roadway patching material feed system and a co-operating roller but that operates independently of the truck that delivers the roadways patching material to the roadway maintenance site.
A detachable roller for mounting on a truck delivering roadway patching material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,702,644 issued to Cioffi, and utilizes a pair of manually-controlled, roller end-position hydraulic actuators to effect transverse pivoting of the roller to accommodate roadway surface unevenness.
Other examples of equipment intended for use in roadway maintenance operations, but not necessarily for asphalt surface patching, include the roller assemblies of U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,593 granted to Hollon et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,782 issued to Hulicsko, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,860,764 granted to Roberts.
I have invented a roller assembly that may be readily attached to, and detached from, the attach points of a standard hydraulically-controlled, truck front-end, three-attach point snowplow lift, that pivots laterally to accommodate changes in roadway surface transverse curvature, that is easy to raise and lower, and that may be conveniently loaded with transferred truck weight to develop added patching compression forces.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from a consideration of the various descriptions, drawings, and claims which follow.
The present invention is basically comprised of a roller frame having a generally rectangular planform and rotationally supporting a hollow cylindrical roller at its ends, an elongated tongue member that is pivotally connected to the roller frame and having a pivot attachment, and a saddle bracket pivotally connected to the roller frame, having a pair of spaced apart pivot attachments, and having connectors joining the saddle bracket to the roller frame with limited rotational movement of the roller frame relative to the saddle bracket. The tongue member pivot attachment and the saddle bracket pair of pivot attachments co-operate with respective attach points of a standard hydraulically-powered, front-end, three-point snowplow truck lift from which any previously installed snowplow has been removed. The three-point snowplow truck lift hydraulic controls may be selectively operated to raise or lower the attached roller assembly and to transfer truck weight onto the roller assembly to develop increased compression forces during roadway surface patching operations.